coll. - Boundless Psychology

Psychology explores concepts such as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, phenomenology, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behavior, resilience, the unconscious mind, and interpersonal relationships. The resulting knowledge is then applied to various spheres of human activity, including the problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. Psychology has been described as a "hub science" because psychological research has links to the social sciences, natural sciences, medicine, and the humanities (such as philosophy).

Clinical psychology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders and mental illness. Psychologists working in a clinical capacity (such as therapists or counselors) work with clients who are struggling with mental illness to assess, diagnose, and implement various forms of therapeutic treatment. Much of this treatment is based on clinical research.

While clinical psychologists tend to work directly with clients, non-clinical psychologists focus more heavily on research. Research psychologists employ scientific methods to explore relationships between various psychosocial variables and examine a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior. Researchers and other non-clinical psychologists often work in university psychology departments or teach in other academic settings (e.g., medical schools or hospitals). Some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, in health-care settings, in the media, in sports, or in forensic investigation and other law-related fields.

The field of psychology emerged as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, but its roots go back to ancient philosophy.

Describe the philosophical roots of what would later become the field of psychology

• Early Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle explored topics such as pleasure, pain, knowledge, motivation, rationality, and mental illnesstopics often discussed in psychology today.
• In the 17th century, French mathematician and philosopher Ren Descartes theorized that the body and mind are separate entities. This concept came to be known as dualism.
• English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke disagreed with the concept of dualism, arguing instead that sensations, images, thoughts, and feelings are physical processes that occur within the brain.
• Psychology became a self-conscious field of experimental study in 1879, when German scientist Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research.
• Edward B. Titchener expanded upon Wundt's ideas to found the theory of structuralism, which attempted to understand the mind as the sum of varying underlying parts.
• Functionalism, founded by William James in the late 19th century, offered an alternative to structuralism by focusing largely on the functions of the mind.

In psychology, the belief that the mind and body are intricately connected rather than separate entities.

In psychology, the belief that the mind and body are separate entities.

The study of the interactions between behavioral, neural, endocrine, and immune functions.

Many cultures throughout history have speculated on the nature of the mind, heart, soul, spirit, and brain. Philosophical interest in behavior and the mind dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China, and India. Psychology was largely a branch of philosophy until the mid-1800s, when it developed as an independent and scientific discipline in Germany and the United States. These philosophical roots played a large role in the development of the field.

From approximately 600 to 300 BC, Greek philosophers explored a wide range of topics relating to what we now consider psychology. Socrates and his followers, Plato and Aristotle, wrote about such topics as pleasure, pain, knowledge, motivation, and rationality. They theorized about whether human traits are innate or the product of experience, which continues to be a topic of debate in psychology today. They also considered the origins of mental illness, with both Socrates and Plato focusing on psychological forces as the root of such illnesses.

Plato and Aristotle

Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient Greek philosophers examined a wide range of topics relating to what we now consider psychology.

17th Century

Ren Descartes, a French mathematician and philosopher from the 1600s, theorized that the body and mind are separate entities, a concept that came to be known as dualism. According to dualism, the body is a physical entity with scientifically measurable behavior, while the mind is a spiritual entity that cannot be measured because it transcends the material world. Descartes believed that the two interacted only through a tiny structure at the base of the brain called the pineal gland.